The Sorting Hat
by Runaway Spirit
Summary: Have you ever wondered why the Sorting Hat put Lily and the Marauders into Gryffindor? How did the Marauders become friends? Where did they get their name? This is a humorous story about their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
1. Chapter 1

**The Sorting Hat**

Disclaimer: I own nothing; it all belongs to J.K.Rowling.

AN: I hope you like it! It's a bit odd but enjoyable nonetheless. I apologise for all grammar mistakes.

"Black, Sirius!"

A young eleven-year-old boy stepped haughtily forward and pulled the Sorting Hat to his head.

_"Hmm…a Black you say…. You are different than the rest of your family. You don't share your family's views on muggle-borns and muggles."_

"_Nonsense,"_ Sirius argued. _"Mudbloods don't deserve the privilege to go to Hogwarts! They are beneath us, wizards!"_

_"Mr Black, you forget that I can read your every thought, dream and hope. You are not like others in your family… Deep in your mind you wonder if your parents may be wrong about them…"_

" _I don't have time for your riddles, hat! Just sort me into Slytherin already!"_ Sirius cut in, his patience wearing thin.

"_Don't worry, I'll sort you…but not into Slytherin. You'd do much better in_ GRYFFINDOR!"

Silence. Utter and complete silence. No one said a word nor applauded. It was unheard that a Black was sorted into Gryffindor. A Black doesn't belong into Gryffindor. They belonged into Slytherin.

Sirius sat rigidly on the stool. He couldn't believe that this was happening. What would his mother say?

"Mr Black! Please stand up and join your fellow classmates, " came the strict voice of Minerva McGonagall.

"_Mother is going to kill me…"_ Sirius thought as he joined the Gryffindor students.

"Evans, Lily!"

An exited redheaded girl run forward and put the hat on her head.

"_A muggle-born witch? Yes... I see a great mind, bravery and certain amount of cheekiness, "_The Sorting Hat chuckled. _"Where should I put you?"_

"_How should I know? I'm not the Sorting Hat, "_ Lily said cheekily.

"_You'd do well in Slytherin…."_

"_What!"_

"_But your strongest trait is bravery. You are destined for a great fate, Miss Evans._ GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindor table burst into applause as another first-year was sorted into their house.

"Lupin, Remus!"

A small boy tired looking boy came hesitatingly forward. He looked at the teachers' table and locked his amber eyes with professor Dumbledore's twinkling blue ones. The professor gave him a small encouraging nod.

_"Well... what do we have here? Ah! I see... Dumbledore truly is a great man for letting you come here."_

Remus hung his head in shame. He knew very well that it was a miracle for him to be allowed to come here at all.

"_Don't be so ashamed. It's not your fault that a werewolf bit you!"_

"_Yes it is! If I had listened to my father none of this would have ever happened!"_ Remus argued.

The Sorting Hat was silent for a second_. " I'm not sure where to sort you…. You're a difficult one. You have the intelligent of a Ravenclaw, yet you are a kind hearted like a Hufflepuff.You have Gryffindor's bravery and Slytherin's ambition to prove yourself. Hmm…. I think the best place for you is _GRYFFINDOR!"

As Remus went to sit down with the rest of the griffindors he saw how professor Dumbledore sent him a joyful glance with his twinkling eyes.

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

A small plump boy stepped forward. He sat on the stool and pulled the hat on his head.

"_Hello, Mr Pettigrew,"_ came a small voice.

"_Uh, he-hel-hello, "_ stuttered the frightened boy.

"_There's no need to be so afraid. Hmm… You have an average mind. Not too intelligent but not stupid either. Ravenclaw is definitely out of the question. You lack the needed thirst of learning. Perhaps Slytherin? No… it_ _doesn't suit you as well. Hufflepuff would do you well, but so would Gryffindor…. The choice is yours Mr Pettigrew…. Which on do you prefer?"_

" _I think that I would prefer Gryf-Gryffindor,"_ Peter answered.

"_Are you sure?"_

"_Yes,"_ came the reply.

"_Very well if you are sure…_GRYFFINDOR!"

"Potter, James!"

Another eleven-year-old boy strutted forward. He wore a confident grin on his face. It almost looked like he wasn't nervous at all and knew exactly were he was going to be placed.

"_A Potter! About time too! It has been nearly 50 years when I sorted the last one. I see that we both know where you belong…"_

"_Gryffindor,"_ James said boldly.

"_That's quite right Mr Potter._ GRYFFINDOR!"

James grinned cockily and set of toward the Gryffindor table where his new friends waited for him.

And so begin the first school year for Lily, James, Sirius, Remus and Peter.


	2. Chapter 2

**The Sorting Hat**

AN: I decided to make "The Sorting Hat" into a multi chaptered story and I sincerely hope that you will enjoy this chapter as much as you enjoyed the first one. I'd like to thank **Avalon's mists, cheezy101, Arwen-Evenstar-Elf, **and** pink5pixie** for reviewing and letting me know what they thought of my work.

**Chapter 2: Welcome to Gryffindor, Black!**

"Hello, my name is James Potter," said James. "And you are?"

"Remus Lupin, nice to meet you," replied Remus tiredly.

"You look a bit pale. Are you ok?" asked James, throwing a measuring look at Remus.

"I'm fine!" answered Remus snappishly. He didn't like it when people commented on his well-being.

"So, do you-?"

"First-years! This way, please!" called Tiberius McLaggen commandingly along the table.

A group of new gryffindors walked towards the prefect. Some of them, like James Potter, marched excitedly forward and some of them, like Peter Pettigrew, toddled shyly behind them. McLaggen led them up the marble staircase, made them go through two secret passageways, and shoved them up the stairs. He glanced over his shoulder and stopped

"_For crying out loud!" _He silently cursed, looking slightly irritated.

One of the students, namely Peter, had gotten his leg stuck between the trick stairs. He went back and pulled the boy's leg out again. Then they turned around the corner and stopped in front of a very fat lady in pink silk dress.

The older boy turned around and said: "This is the Fat Lady. Every time you need to enter the Gryffindor Tower, she will ask for a password. If you know the right password to tell her, she will swing open and let you to enter the Tower. However, if you have forgotten the password, she will not open up, whether you're a Gryffindor or not. This month's password is lion's pride!"

The portrait swung open and let them go in.

"Wow," whispered Lily." This place is beautiful."

All the first-years seemed to be on the same opinion. Even Sirius had to grumpily agree. This place was very pleasing indeed. It had comfortable looking red couches and mahogany tables. The fire was cheerfully crackling in the fireplace and the room itself gave out a rather homey feeling.

"The boys dormitories are to the right and the girls dormitories are to the left!"

James, Remus, Sirius and Peter headed up to their room. The air was thick with tension.

"So, Black, do tell us how in the name of Merlin did you manage to get sorted into Gryffindor? It's obviously that you don't belong here…" asked James, his eyes narrowed with distrust.

"Bugger off, Potter!" shouted Sirius.

"It's not me who's in the wrong house, Black!"

"I said bugger of!"

"Touchy, are we? Not so brave without your evil cousins, are you?" James said in a mocking tone.

Sirius growled. He was starting to loathe Potter more and more with each passing second.

"James? Perhaps you should leave him alone," Remus cut in awkwardly.

Sirius brought his angered gaze to Remus.

"I don't need help from the likes of you!" he declared haughtily. And with a swift move he turned around, climbed to bed, and pulled the curtains around his bed close.

"_How in the world was Black sorted into Gryffindor? He should have been in Slytherin like the rest of his horrendous family. He doesn't deserve to be a Gryffindor…. Great, just great! I have to share a room with him for the next seven years!" _James thought miserably but then grinned _"But that doesn't mean it has to be pleasant for him."_

"_Maybe I should go to Dumbledore and ask for a resorting. That stupid hat is clearly out of its mind. Old age is finally starting to catch up with it."_ Sirius mulled. _"Mother is going to kill me. No doubt that dear Cissy has already written to her."_ He cringed at the thought of what his mother is going to say. _"She'll probably send me a Howler. Whippii!" _

James waited until Sirius fell asleep, then he climbed out of his bed, tiptoed to Remus's bed, and shook him awake.

"What?" asked Remus sleepily.

"Get up," whispered James, eyes full of mischief. "We are going to prank Black!"

Remus eyed him warily. "Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"What do you mean by that? Of course it's a good idea."

"And what are we going to do to him?"

"You'll see. Now, go get dressed."

"James, can you, please, tell me where are we going?" asked Remus. He was quite annoyed because James had woken him up in the middle of the night, dragged him out of his comfortable bed, and refused to tell him where they were going.

"Stop whining, Remus, and be quiet, " whispered James.

They were currently walking towards some unknown direction under James's invisibility cloak and Remus was seriously starting to doubt in James's mental health.

"Aha! We are here! It's exactly where my dad said it would be," said James triumphantly.

Remus raised an eyebrow. He had no idea what he talking about. Where was this here? All he could see was a painting of a bowl of fruit.

James stepped forward and tickled the pear; it giggled, and turned into a door handle. He turned the handle and stepped into the kitchen. Remus's mouth fell open.

"Remus, stop gawking, " snickered James.

"How-what-who?" spluttered Remus flabbergasted.

"My dad told me about it."

"What are we doing here? I don't think the students are allowed to come here!"

James shrugged his shoulders. "If we don't get caught…" he trailed of grinning.

"You didn't answer my first question."

"Remus, my dear friend, we are here to ask help from the house elves."

"What can Dinky do for you, sires?" asked a small house elf.

James smiled impishly. "Quite a lot actually."

Remus, James, and Dinky crept back to the boy's dormitory. Their arms were loaded with eggs, feathers, and raw fishes. Dinky went inside the room and signalled that the coast is clear. Sirius and Peter were sound asleep.

"You both know the plan. Let's do it as quickly as possible. We don't want Black to wake up, do we?" said James quietly.

Dinky snapped her fingers and a flash of white light surrounded Sirius's bed. A second later came Sirius floating to the boys. James nodded to Remus, went to Sirius, and started cracking the eggs over his body. Remus was doing the same over Sirius's bed. James took a handful of feathers and dumped it on the victim. Remus did the exact thing on the bed. Dinky snapped her fingers once more and Sirius floated back to his bed. She dived under Sirius's bed and came out with his slippers. James and Remus took the slippers and filled them with raw fishes. When it was done Dinky pushed them under the bed again.

"Does, sires, need anything else?" asked Dinky.

Remus and James looked at each other and Remus enquired: " Can you do a spell to stop the fishes from smelling?"

"Of course, sir!" said Dinky. She snapped her fingers for the third time and another flash of white light surrounded Sirius's slippers.

"Thank you, Dinky, you were a great help!" chorused James and Remus.

Dinky beamed and left.

The boys took a moment to admire their handiwork and after saying a quiet good night, went to bed also.

AN 2: I apologise for all grammar mistakes. _My native tongue is not English_. Feel free to point out any typos you find. It will help me to improve my writing. Don't forget to review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Another Day I**

AN: I'm terribly sorry for not updating in the past week! I solemnly swear that from now on I 'm going to update at least once a week... or twice a week if I can. I would also like to thank my wonderful reviewers **Arwen- Evenstar- Elf, goddess of trix, cheezy 101, RainbowCookie318 and storseshavehalls. **Your reviews make my day!

"Are you sure he's alive?" asked James the next morning.

Remus bent over Sirius's chest and checked his breathing. His chest was rhythmically moving up and down.

"He's alive," asserted Remus.

"Why hasn't he woken up yet?" whined James impatiently.

Remus didn't answer. He didn't know the answer to his question. The boys were standing next to Sirius's bed, waiting for him to wake up. Both of them were covered with James's invisibility cloak and James was holding a camera in his hands. Out of the blue there was slight twitch on Sirius part. He was finally starting to wake up.

Sirius leisurely stretched his limbs, eyes still closed. Then he stopped, he felt weirdly wet. His eyes opened and widened in horror. _Oh no, _he thought, _I haven't wetted the bed, have I?_ He quickly ripped his blanket of and gawked down at his body.

"What the hell?" screamed Sirius.

He stood up, ran to the mirror and let out another frustrated yell. James and Remus were trying very hard to not laugh out loud. After a few seconds of stuffing his fist into his mouth James couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing. Shortly after him Remus started to laugh too. Sirius turned around and looked around the room. He couldn't see anyone.

"Who's there?" asked Sirius alarmed.

Remus and James hastily shut up and started sneaking out of the room. Unfortunately for them the cloak got stuck behind a carpet and pulled the cloak off of the two boys. Sirius stared at his fellow dorm mates. Then he realised what was going on.

"You," bellowed Sirius, "you did this!"

Remus and James made a mad run to the Gryffindor common room. They didn't expect Sirius to get _this_ mad.

"Get back here," yelled Sirius, " get back here and fight like Gryffindors!"

When the boys didn't stop he yelled, " And you call yourselves Gryffindors!"

Although James felt a bit affected by his words, he still thought that it was wise to run as fast as he could. He valued his life after all. Sirius growled under his breath and run after them.

"You mangy mutts!" shouted Sirius, "get back here!"

Sirius sprinted down the stairs and after the culprits. In his rush he didn't notice that both James and Remus had stopped running and crashed right into their backs.

"What are you doing?" asked professor McGonagall sternly. She had been standing in the middle of the common room when the three boys came running into it.

"Umm…"

"What happened to you, Mr. Black?" observed professor McGonagall when she noticed his appearance.

"Err…"

"Well? Are you going to tell me?" asked Professor McGonagall impatiently.

"Huh…. Nothing happened, professor. I always wake up covered in eggs and feathers," said Sirius mockingly. He didn't like complaining. Somewhere beside him he heard James snort but it was quickly covered as a cough.

McGonagall looked at him disbelievingly. Never-ever had a first-year mocked her.

"Detention, Mr. Black, for your rude mouth!" proclaimed professor McGonagall and left the room.

Sirius threw James and Remus a disgusted look and hissed quietly, "This isn't over."

With those words he turned around and went upstairs to take a shower.

James looked at Remus and whispered dismally, "We didn't get to take pictures…"

A very put off Sirius hurried to find the Great Hall. He really needed to eat. After all, he deserved it. He stepped into to the Great Hall and marched to the Gryffindor table. Nearly everybody from the table gave him hateful glares. Suddenly a group of owls came whooping to the Hall. A regal looking hawk owl landed in front of Sirius and dropped a scarlet letter on his plate. Sirius eyed the owl and the letter in displeasure.

"Look! Black got a Howler!" someone yelled.

Sirius didn't have to think twice to know _that _voice. Potter…. Nearly all the heads in the Great Hall turned to look at Sirius.

"Sirius," called a gentle voice, "come here. Grab the letter! Quick!"

Sirius, recognising the voice right away, twirled around and faced his older cousin Andromeda. Andromeda, unlike her sisters, was not a Slytherin. However, she wasn't a Gryffindor either. She was a Ravenclaw. Her parents had been rather disappointed when she didn't get sorted into Slytherin but after a small thinking period they decided that Ravenclaw wasn't that bad.

Andromeda grabbed Sirius and the smoking letter and rushed out of the Great Hall. They didn't got very far though. They had just passed the door when the letter started screeching, "YOU! HOW DARE YOU BEFOUL THE NOBLE AND MOST ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK! WHAT IN HEAVENS SAKE POSESSED YOU TO GO AND GET SORTED INTO GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR! YOUR FATHER AND I ARE MOST DISPLEASED WITH YOU! YOU BLOOD TRAITOR! DO NOT COME HOME BEFORE SUMMER HOLYDAY OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!

Andromeda steered Sirius into a safe corner, away from everyone's prying eyes and locked her grey eyes with Sirius's equally stormy ones. Sirius tried to squirm away from her.

"Do not listen do you mother, Sirius," said Andromeda kindly, "being a Gryffindor is nothing to be ashamed off. Gryffindor is a noble house and you should be proud of it. I know I am proud of you."

"Why should I be proud? I'm totally in the wrong house plus they hate me!" cried Sirius cynically.

"Who hates you?"

"They! The Gryffindors!"

"Nonsense! They don't hate you. They just haven't gotten used to the idea that a Black is in their house," argued Andromeda sensibly.

"Which leads us to the point that I shouldn't have been there in the first place," said Sirius bitterly.

"Look, Sirius, the Sorting Hat saw something noble and honourable in you and thus placed you in Gryffindor, " said Andromeda, "you are better than most people in our family. Try to blend in and don't forget that I am very proud of you." With those words Andromeda went away and left Sirius standing in the corner.

AN2: I cut the actual chapter into two pieces because I wanted to keep my promise and update by Wednesday. Sorry if it was boring…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Another Day II 

AN: The fourth is finally here! I'm sorry it took so long but I have had so much to do. I have classes and hobbies and other stuff … I would like to thank my wonderful reviewers: **goddess of trix, pink5pixie, RainbowCookie318 and Arwen-Evenstar-Elf**

Sirius walked slowly to the dungeons. He didn't really want to go there but he could not afford to skip his first lesson. Part of the reason way he didn't want to go there, was the fact that he know exactly what was waiting for him. He had do ensure hours of sneering Slytherins and annoying Gryffindors.

A fat man with a huge moustache stepped inside the classroom. He took out his notes and started calling his student's names.

"Sirius Black!" yelled the professor.

"Here!" answered Sirius.

Professor Slughorn eyed the boy curiously.

"Well, I never thought that it was possible for a Black to become a Gryffindor!" exclaimed the man.

Sirius chose to not answer. He didn't like the fact that the professor had made him the centre of everybody's attention. Especially right now when his cousin Andromeda had advised him to blend in. After a few minutes the professor reached to James Potter's name.

"James Potter!" called professor Slughorn.

"Here, " said James.

Professor Slughorn looked at him and said, "I know your parents quite well, my boy. They are lovely people!"

James smiled and said, " Yes, they are."

The lesson kept on in a moderately dull manner. The students paired up and started to make a simple boil-curing potion. Every once in a while professor Slughorn stopped and gave out tips on how to fix his or hers potion. It wasn't before the very end of the lesson when the fun started.

A caldron exploded. Most of the girls started screaming and dived under the tables. The boys followed their example. Some of the students had been a little late and were covered from head to toes with slime. To Sirius's delight he saw that Potter had also been a little late and was coated with green goo. James, however, had a different thought about his current position.

Sirius marched to his Transfiguration classroom. He was having a rather bad day. In the morning he had woken up to find that he was covered with eggs and feathers, then he had been given a detention, and last but not least, he had gotten a Howler from his mother. The only bright spot had been the potions incident. His day couldn't get much worse. How very wrong he was.

"Potter!" came a sharp and strict voice.

James turned around and gave his professor the most angelic face he could master. Professor McGonagall wasn't very impressed though.

"Detention!" said the professor curtly.

"I didn't too anything," started James complaining.

"I may be older than you, Mr. Potter, but I am certainly not blind," said professor McGonagall, " I saw what you did to Miss Evans's hair. Take it off right away!"

Lily immediately took a strand of her between her fingers and into her eyes level. She couldn't help but give out a yell of despair. Her hair wasn't red anymore… or auburn or even orange. It was the brightest colour of platinum blond she had ever seen. Professor sent James a strict look. James did a pouting face but took the spell of off her.

"I'd like to see you and Mr. Black in my office at six o'clock sharp," told professor McGonagall just as the bell rang. Remus, who was sitting next to James, gave him a pat on the shoulder as if to say, don't worry mate…in my thoughts I'll be right beside you.

Both James and Sirius walked towards their Transfiguration teacher's office with apprehension evident on their faces. They didn't want to get a detention plus they didn't like being this close to one another. It was for the best if the boys stayed at least thirty feet from each other at all times.

James knocked softly on the door and stepped in. He made sure to close the door before Sirius could also get in. Sirius, who had been expecting nothing less from him, didn't let his behaviour ruin his already ruined mood.

Professor McGonagall looked up from her grading and said, " Tonight you'll be both scrubbing trophies in our Trophy Room. Our caretaker Mr Filch will be here any minute to take you there."

Right on clue the caretaker poked his head into the office.

"Are they the culprits?" he asked. After McGonagall's nod he commanded them to follow him.

Sirius and James tagged along with the older man. None of them said a word.

Filch took them to the Trophy Room and before letting the boys enter, paused at the door, "I want this room to spotless when I come back. Is that understood?"

He shoved the boys into the room with a nasty smile. Sirius and James stood and stared at each other. They didn't have a clue what they were supposed to be doing. Both of them had very little practise with cleaning. Sirius had Kreacher and James's parents didn't let their precious son do anything straining.

"What's the matter? Don't you know how to clean?" mocked the caretaker.

Sirius took the mop and bucket and started scribbling; James followed his example and started also polishing. Nether Sirius or James said a word to each other. They just wanted to get this over with. They had been cleaning for two hours when the caretaker finally walked into the room again and started inspecting their work. The boys could read from his face that he was not pleased.

"What is the meaning of this? This is not cleaning! You are making the trophies dirtier than they already are," complained the man, " you have to start all over again!"

James and Sirius couldn't hide their groans. They had been polishing so hard that their hands had become numb.

Filch took the mop from James's hands and shoved them the real art of cleaning, then he marched out of the room with a promise that he'll back in an hour and if they hadn't been making any progress with the cleaning there would be hell to pay.

James took the swab growled under his breath. He didn't like cleaning. He had better things to do than clean trophies with Black.

Sirius's expression was similar to James's. He had already enough of the Potter brat. He wasn't sure if he could ensure another hour with him and not lose his sanity.

The clock was already past eleven when James and Sirius were released at last. James took off with a sneer on his face and left Sirius to stand alone in the dark. Sirius didn't mind it very much; his daily norm of being with the Potter brat was probably exceeded with ten years. He walked quietly through the silent halls of Hogwarts. At some point he thought that he had heard something but quickly dismissed the idea when the halls were quiet once again. Then he heard whispers behind his back. This time he could not dismiss it.

He turned around with a hammering heart and called out, "Who's there?"

At first nobody answered him but then he heard a cold and cruel laugh.

"Aww… Is the ickle widdle baby scared," said a voice from the darkness.

Sirius stopped and narrowed his eyes. His cousin Bellatrix stepped in front of him and sneered, " Not so brave now, you filthy little blood traitor, are you?" She grasped his hand and pulled him inside an unused classroom.

More dark figures stepped forward and made a circle around Sirius. In the corner of his eyes Sirius could see Rodolphus, Malfoy and several other familiar figures around him. How they had gotten inside of Hogwarts was beyond his knowledge.

"Your mother is very displeased with you, Sirius, " started Bellatrix, "she wanted us to give you a little lesson about what happens to blood-traitors like you!"

She drew out her wand and pointed it to Sirius. Rodolphus and Lucius stepped behind him and grabbed him from both sides.

"Silencio, said Bellatrix. Then she lowered her voice even more and whispered, "Crucio."

Bellatrix watched with gleaming eyes as her young cousin fell on the floor and started trashing, his mouth opened in a silent yell. Everyone could say that she was rather enjoying herself.

James wandered around the castle. He was lost. Plain and simple. He sneaked around the corner and stopped. He thought that he heard a funny noise. He hesitatingly walked to a door and opened it a little bit. He could not believe what he was seeing. There in the middle of an unused classroom was his archenemy Sirius Black and he was being tortured. He watched numbly as Sirius trashed on the floor, obviously in pain beyond his imagination.

_I have to help him,_ thought James frightened, _I may not like him but this is not normal! What to do? What to do?_

James turned around and ran off to find a teacher. He knew that the teachers patrolled around the castle at nights. _Help! Someone help me, _thought James desperately.

"Mr Potter? Should you be in your bed at a time like this?" came a voice.

James looked at his headmaster with a clearly written relief on his face.

"Professor, you have to help him! They are torturing him!" ranted James.

Professor's face turned grave. "Who's torturing who?" he asked seriously.

"Black, sir! They –I don't know who they are-but hey are torturing Black!" shouted James.

"Show me the way, my boy," said professor Dumbledore pressingly.

James made a mad dash back to where he had been only moments before. Dumbledore rushed behind him.

Rodolphus looked around the corner and whispered urgently, "Someone's coming! We have to get going!"

His companions instantly stopped their playing. Bellatrix removed the spells and bent over Sirius.

"I'll see you next time, cousin," she whispered maliciously.

Sirius didn't hear her anymore; he had already fallen into unconsciousness.

AN2: I hope you liked it! Don't forget that my native tongue is not English and I'm very sorry for all grammar mistakes and typos. Feel free to point out any typos you find. It will help me to improve my writing. Don't forget to review!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: **A Hesitating Step**

AN: I would like to thank my wonderful reviewers: **scary-dude-on-natural-high****, Arwen-Evenstar-Elf, EmilyMars, Asian-Novelist, RainbowCookie318, goddess of trix** and** Ward! **Your reviews make my day!

I received a review from Ward and he said the fourth chapter would have been better if James had rescued Sirius himself…. Do you honestly think that two eleven-year old boys would have been able to defeat three adults who have completed their studies? I don't think so. If James had stayed he would have been tortured too. He was smart enough to go and get help when help is due.

Secondly, I would like to answer scary-dude-on-natural-high's question. My native tongue is Estonian. I doubt that it says something to you though…

Sirius woke up with a groan. His body hurt. Even breathing was hurtful. He opened his eyes but after a few seconds of blinding daylight he squeezed them shut again. He opened his eyes once more and tried to figure out where he was. All he could see was white. White walls, white sealing and white sheets, even the floor was white.

"I'm not dead, am I?" asked Sirius loudly.

"I assure you, Mr. Black, that you are not dead," said a comforting voice near the door.

Sirius lifted his head from the pillow and saw professor Dumbledore standing there. The Headmaster came closer and took a seat next to his bed.

He looked at the pale boy in front of him and said in a saddened tone, "I'm very sorry, Sirius, I don't want you to relive bad memories but I have to know who did this. Madam Pomfrey said that you were put numerous times under the Cruciatus Curse. This is a very severe matter and I have to know the names. They must to be punished!"

Sirius turned away from the older man and looked out of the window. He was arguing with himself whether to say the names or not.

Professor Dumbledore watched the boy to fight with himself. He already knew who had done this, James Potter had told him, but he needed to hear it from Sirius and Sirius needed to say it out loud.

Finally Sirius came to a decision. He opened his mouth and said, " I don't really remember, sir."

Professor Dumbledore looked at the boy more carefully than before. He knew that the boy must have been ashamed and scared of his family but he didn't think that he would go as far as lying to him.

"Are you absolutely sure?" he asked.

Sirius didn't answer. He didn't want to lie but he didn't want to admit it either how little his family actually cared about him. His fingers started to play with the hem of his pajamas. The professor seemed to understand him though.

"Sirius, look at me!" commanded professor Dumbledore gently yet firmly.

Sirius reluctantly raised his eyes and looked professor Dumbledore straight in the eye. Something in the older man's eyes told him that he already knew who had done this. There was no point denying it.

He sighed dejectedly and mumbled, "My cousin Bellatrix and her friends."

"Do you know why they did this?"

"Bellatrix said that my mother wanted her to give me a lesson on how I should listen to my parents. My parents are furious with me. They don't think that Gryffindor is suitable house for a Black."

"I see…"

"Headmaster! What are you doing? You should know better than to disturb my patient," scolded an irritated voice. The voice belonged to the school nurse madam Pomfrey.

"I very sorry, Poppy, but it had do be done," explained Dumbledore with authority.

Madam Pomfrey looked at the man with disbelief but didn't argue back to him. To be honest, she didn't that anything was important enough to bother her patient. She made a mental note to speak with him about the matter some other time, away from prying ears.

"If you say so…. Now, Mr. Black, I want you to drink these potions and I don't want to hear a single complaint!" ordered madam Pomfrey promptly.

Sirius took the potions from the nurse and gulped them down in a one go. He made a disgusted face and handed the vials back to madam Pomfrey.

"Well, Sirius, I should go now and let you rest," said professor Dumbledore and left the room, leaving Sirius to deal with a fussing nurse.

Sirius had been awake for only two hours but he was already bored out of his mind. There simply wasn't anything to do in the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey had offered to bring him some books from the library but he had declined the offer because he wasn't a reading type. Now he wished that he had accepted it. He wandered idly who had alerted Dumbledore about his cousin and her friends. Then he sat rigidly up, ignoring his aching sides, and thought, _oh no! It wasn't Potter, was it?_ He sunk back to his pillow and hid his head underneath it. _Wonderful!_

Sirius was released the next evening. Madam Pomfrey had wanted to keep him in the hospital a bit longer but Sirius had pleaded and begged her to let him go. He said that all the whiteness would drove him crazy if had to stay there any longer. Madam Pomfrey hadn't wanted to do this but Sirius was very persistent and she didn't have any other choice but to give up.

Sirius walked to the Gryffindor Tower. He was slightly scared because of his recent attack but he reached to his destination without any distractions. He told the Fat Lady the password and walked to his dorm.

James came happily down the corridor; he had just escaped from Remus in the library. How he could read so much was beyond his, James's, imagination. He said the password to the Fat Lady, walked through the common room and climbed up the stairs to his dorm. Then he came to a sudden halt. Sirius Black was inside the room, changing his daily clothes to pajamas.

Sirius looked at him awkwardly but said nothing. James stared right back at him. He didn't know how to act around Sirius anymore.

"I see that you are back from the hospital," James said uncomfortably.

Sirius didn't know what to say. Here was his enemy and yet he had helped him…

"Thank you, " he whispered softly.

AN2: I hope you liked it! Don't forget that my native tongue is not English and I'm very sorry for all grammar mistakes and typos. Feel free to point out any typos you find. It will help me to improve my writing. Don't forget to review!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:** **The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship**

**AN:** I'm so sorry for the long delay! I have a good reason though. I was sick. I had a fever, stuffy nose etc. It wasn't very serious but it was enough to stop me from writing. Once again I would like to thank my most wonderful reviewers:** alet, sara, goddess of trix, scary-dude-on-sugar-high, Nire, RainbowCookie318, Asian-Novelist, hey, Slayee. **Thanks a lot:)

"Rise and shine!" yelled a voice near Sirius's ear.

Sirius opened one drowsy eye and searched for the person who had dared to interrupt his much needed sleep. He found a maniacally grinning James standing next to his bed and he was holding a glass of water in his hands.

"What are-?" Sirius tried to ask but was too late. James had already emptied the glass over his head. Sirius threw him a dirty glance.

"You are forgetting your place, Potter, we agreed on truce not friendship," he snapped irritably and marched to the bathroom. The door closed with a big bang.

"I thought that the two of you stopped your silly rivalry," said a confused voice from one of the beds.

"So did I, Remus," answered James, " he probably didn't like my wake up call!"

"You didn't…" groaned Remus. _No wonder Sirius in angry, he mused_. James liked to wake up as early as he could and since he always got bored being alone he woke up the others as well. In the most annoying way I might add. Remus himself had already woken up numerous times by getting tickled, getting hit by a pillow … the list goes on and on. Suddenly a pillow came out of nowhere and hit him on the face.

"James!" screamed Remus half exasperatedly, half amused of his friend antics.

"So," said James, hoping to start a conversation with the other boys at the Gryffindor table. "Do you like Quidditch?"

Sirius, still a bit pissed of for being woken so early sent him an annoyed look. He really wasn't a morning person. Come to think of it, he didn't know why he had agreed to sit next to the head jerk too. Oh well, it was too late to get away from him. People had already seen them sitting together and they were starting to whisper.

"Andromeda, do you see that?" asked Andromeda's long-term boyfriend and fellow classmate Ted Tonks.

"See what?" inquired the sleepy girl. Apparently all Blacks liked a good sleep in.

"Your little cousin Sirius has finally made some friends," said Ted hoping to cheer her up. Andromeda had been under a lot of stress lately- schoolwork, her evil family and Sirius's unfriendly behaviour.

Andromeda's head snapped immediately up. She searched the Gryffindor table until she saw her young cousin. She couldn't help but smile when she saw Sirius making bored and annoyed faces at James Potter.

"And then," babbled James passionately. He had been talking about Quidditch since breakfast and that was half an hour ago.

Sirius found himself wandering again why he had chosen to stay with him and Remus when he could have been blissfully alone.

"But my mother told me," mumbled James, still not shoving any signs of shutting up.

"Welcome to your first flying lesson, " said madam Hooch.

Every body stopped talking, even James shut up. Sirius quickly sent a prayer for small mercies. Even Remus looked a bit happier now when James was quiet. Although the relieved look disappeared from his face very quickly when madam Hooch ordered them to sit on their broomstick. Remus wasn't particularly fond of heights. Meanwhile James looked like he was in his element.

"Sirius!" yelled a familiar voice, "over here!" Sirius turned around and once again was face to face with his cousin Andromeda.

"Yes, Ann," he said.

Ann looked at him with sparkling eyes. "So," she began in a teasing voice, " tell me, Sirius, are my eyes deceiving me or are you actually on speaking terms with those, oh how insufferable, Gryffindors?

"Insufferable?" mouthed James with a mock hurt look on his face. Remus snickered.

"Sirius, my man," begin James effectively cutting Andromeda of, "when have we ever been insufferable?"

"Yeah," said Remus casually punching him on the shoulder.

"We, Remus and I, have never been insufferable," finished James with grin, "but we do know someone who has been insufferable pain in the neck for all week."

Sirius only rolled his eyes. Ann smiled. She knew that from now on these three boys were going to be fantastic friends.

"Finally freedom," sighed James as they walked into their dormitory. He threw his schoolbag onto his bed and sat down.

"So, what are we going to do now?" he asked.

Knock-knock! An owl was behind their window and demanded to get in. Sirius opened the window and let the bird in. The bird soared to Remus and stuck his leg out. The boy looked at the bird and then suddenly as if remembering something looked at the calendar. His face turned pale.

"Aren't you going to open it up?" inquired James.

Remus slowly opened the letter and started to read it. When he was finished he folded it back again and said, " my mother is sick. I have to go to home."

"Oh…"

"I think it's best if I go now," said Remus with determination. The moon was coming out any minute now and he needed to go somewhere secure where he could transforms safely. He bit his farewell and ran down the stairs to the hospital wing.

"Come along, Mr Lupin," called madam Pomfrey, " we have to hurry!"

She grabbed Remus's arm and steered him out of the castle towards a vicious looking tree. They stopped in front of it and madam Pomfrey started to explain," this tree is called the Whomping Willow and it guards the secret passageway to an old house, not very far from here. To freeze the tree you need press that knot over there. Like this."

She pressed the knot and the Willow froze.

"Hurry up! We can't loose a minute," ushered madam Pomfrey.

She pushed the young boy into the tunnel and instructed him to go to the end of the tunnel until he reaches an old house. Remus climbed into the tunnel and ran until he reached to the house. He went inside and felt an indescribable pain take over his body and mind. His body morphed into a wolf's body and his mind changed to an animal's mind. After a few minutes of nearly unbearable hurt there was no Remus Lupin anymore. Instead of the young boy stood a werewolf. The werewolf opened his mouth and let out a sorrowful howl towards the moon above him.

AN2: What a depressing ending, don't you think?


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7´ 

**AN: Sighs... sighs again. Whispers a quick prayer to the gods. I'm so sorry for not updating forgod knows how long. I'll try my best to make my updates more frequent. Thanks for everyone who reviewed for my last chapter. **

The next morning Remus woke up in the Shrieking Shack. He was lying on the cold and dusty floor. He tried to open his eyes but the daylight was too blinding. He hastily closed his eyes and tried to open them again. This time he succeeded. Remus looked at his body. It was covered with new deep scratches. The wounds on his arms and legs were still oozing with blood.

_These bites are going to leave scars. I hope that Madam Pomfrey is able to heal or at least conceal them. _He grabbed his school uniform and put it gently on. The uniform clung uncomfortably to his gashes but he tried to ignore it. He hoped that his clothes hid his injures.

He walked to the tunnel and stopped. Last night he was too busy running to the Shrieking Shack that he didn't even notice were he was. Remus eyed the tunnel then sighed and stepped into it.

The tunnel was dark and long. Remus quickened his pace but stopped quickly. His body hurt too much to continue with the fast pace. _I should be used to it by now _groaned Remus. _How many years have I done this?_ Finally he reached out of the tunnel. He looked around and saw that there was nobody around. He looked at the sky and saw that the sun wasn't even up yet. _It must be very early…or very late_ thought Remus.

**XXX**

"Remus!" yelled James jovially, "you're back!"

Sirius looked critically at Remus's appearance.

"You look like you've been run over by a hippogriff, not visiting your mother," he marked dryly.

James kicked him on the shin and send him a glare.

"You see what I had to ensure when you were not here?" he mock complained.

"You had to ensure?" asked Sirius irritated.

"Yes," retorted James.

"Oh please," said Sirius and rolled his grey eyes.

They two boys continued their bickering. Remus only smiled. Sirius and James may have formed a truce but that didn't stop them from taunting each other. They loved to irritate each other. Remus didn't complain. It was much better than seeing them fighting but right now he only wished some peace and quiet. But apparently he wasn't going to get that.

"So, how's your mother? I hope she's not seriously ill!" said James.

Remus was quiet for a moment then said, "she's fine now. Don't worry about it!"

"Ok!"

The boys were quiet for a few minutes.

"So, what do you want to do? It's Saturday!" asked James hoping to start another conversation with Sirius and Remus. He didn't like quietness very much. He was an energy bomb and expected others to be that as well.

"Sleep," murmured Remus.

"Sleep? You just came back from your parents' house! What did you do all night? Party?" inquired James appalled.

He thought for a minute and then his face lit up.

"I know what we should do! We should go on an exploring trip," he shouted excitedly.

"Exploring?" repeated Sirius.

"Yes, it will be fun! We could discover all kinds of secret passageways. My father told me about them. He didn't say were they are though. I think he said that I should find them on my own," said James quite smugly.

Sirius looked a bit thoughtful, "I'll come if Remus comes." He really wanted to go with James to his exploring trip but he couldn't let James know that he actually liked his idea.

"Err," answered Remus, "I don't know." He was rather uncertain to agree with James's thought.

"He said yes," announced James to Sirius, "let's go!"

"I didn't say"-Remus started but was cut off by James who was pulling him out of their dormitory and down the stairs.

**XXX**

_A couple of hours later_ ...

"We're lost," complained Sirius, "and it's all your fault!" He pointed his finger at James.

The three boys were standing in the middle of a dusty corridor.

"My fault?" scoffed James. He made a move to grab his wand from his pocket.

"Yes, it was your stupid idea to come here at all!" hissed Sirius through his teeth. He had seen James's movement and pulled his wand out also.

"James, Sirius there really is no need for that," Remus started reasonably.

His companions turned to Remus and exclaimed angrily, "he started it!"

Remus rubbed his temples. He was starting to have a headache.

"Why don't we focus on how to get back to the Gryffindor Tower?" he suggested.

"I was focusing on that before the great oaf started to blame me on all of his problems," mumbled James.

"I did not," started Sirius but was cut off by Remus who had put his hand on his mouth. He pushed Remus's hand off but didn't say a word.

"I think we should go that way," said James. He pointed his finger randomly to the way they had come from.

"Oh, no we shouldn't! You're thinking got us in here in the first place," growled Sirius.

"Fine!" shouted James, "why don't you take lead then oh, wise one?"

"I will," smirked Sirius. He had suddenly remembered one of his pre-Hogwarts lessons with his mother. He pulled out his wand again and whispered, "point me."

His wand hopped into the west. James looked at him as if Sirius had just smacked him on the face.

"Why didn't you think of this earlier?" he demanded to know.

"I forgot!" was the only reply he received from Sirius.

"He forgot!" mumbled James unbelievably and made a face.

_Fifteen minutes later…_

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" asked Remus tiredly. Getting lost in Hogwarts with James and Sirius was not his favourite past time. He had better thing to do…like sleeping.

"I think he has no idea where he is going," said James and sat down on the floor.

"I'm not moving. My feet hurt," he whined.

Sirius rolled his eyes…again. That must have been the tenth time in the past fifteen minutes when he was forced to roll his eyes. _Sissy!_

"Maybe we'll die here," whispered James suddenly.

"If we are lucky enough you'll die," mumbled Sirius.

"I'm too young to die!" said James.

"Nobody's going to die!" retorted Remus.

"But what if we do?" insisted James.

Sirius and Remus chose not to answer. The boys fell into silence.

"Shh," murmured Remus, " do you hear it?"

James and Sirius strained their ears. They were silent for a couple of minutes but they couldn't hear a thing.

"Hear what?" asked James in confusion.

"That!" urged Remus. He had heard it again.

James and Sirius strained their once more and this time they too could hear a faint rattling. It was coming from a broom closet about twenty steps away from them. James stood up and hesitantly walked closer to it. The rattling got louder. James looked over his shoulder where his comrades were standing.

"Scared, Potter?" asked Sirius mockingly. He moved closer to James and the still clattering door.

"Not a chance, Black!" retorted James. He put up a brave face and slowly turned the doorknob.

They weren't prepared for what was inside the broom closet. A slimy slug fell out. It wasn't even whole; it was only a half of a slug.

"Ew," shouted James and quickly stepped away from it.

"What is this thing?" asked Sirius with a look of complete disgust on his face.

James poked it with his leg. The slug moved closer to him and started to change its form. It changed into a dog. The dog bared its teeth and started to growl at him. James froze. He had an immense dislike for dogs. The dog growled louder and started to move towards him. James couldn't move his legs. He felt as if he could pee his pants at the moment.

Sirius stared at scene that was unfolding beneath his eyes. He could see that James was truly scared. He made up his mind and grabbed James's arm. He pulled him away from the dog and sprinted down the corridor, James and Remus hot in his heals.

**AN2: I hope you like it. I worked hard on it and I quite like it but that's my opinion. I have noticed that mine and yours (the reviewers) don't exactly have the same opinions. But that doesn't matter, everybody are entitled to have different opinions. By the way James won't fear dogs forever because his future best friend is a "dog" too and he'll "cure" him from his fear. Ok, I'm done with my ramblings now… **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Halloween**

**AN: **The eighth chapter is finally here! This is the longest chapter I have ever written. Many thanks to my wonderful reviewers:** Lokness, green waters, Kajiin, Sweetbutteri, Aeronnen and Strawberry Blue!**

As the days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months it became clear that James, Sirius and Remus were good friends. They had their low moments when they fought and didn't speak with each other but usually they made up pretty quickly. The three boys just couldn't stay mad at each other.

"So," started James.

James, Sirius and Remus were once again sitting in their dormitory and getting quite bored with themselves. Or should I say that James was getting bored. Both Sirius and Remus were well occupied with their homework. Remus, being the smart boy he was, didn't like the idea of getting behind from others and did his essays like usually. Sirius, however, had been a procrastinator and had to write three essays on Transfiguration, Potions and worst of them all – History of Magic. All of these three essays were due tomorrow.

"So," said James once more as no one had paid any attention to him. Again nobody answered.

"Remus, Sirius," started James on a whiney tone he knew that both Remus and Sirius hated. Immediately he got their attention.

"So, I'm bored!" he finished his sentence. He looked at his companions waiting for suggestions on what to do.

"Why don't you leave the room and annoy Evans then!" suggested Sirius irritably. He was struggling with his History of Magic essay and he didn't take it lightly when James broke his attention…again.

"But I don't want to go and annoy her," whined James, "I just came back from annoying her. She hit me! Can you believe it?"

James had Lily had already quite a history. They may be first-years but James liked her a lot and Lily wasn't returning his feelings. To be absolutely blunt Lily thought that James was an arrogant show-off and she didn't want to anything with him.

"How could she?" mumbled Sirius sarcastically and turned back to his essay.

"Don't you have anything to read?" asked Remus sensibly.

James made a face of utter disgust and didn't answer. He would rather die than read a book for fun. He was quiet for a couple of minutes and said again, "Sirius, if I let you copy my essays will you stop that scribbling and help me think of something fun?"

He looked hopefully at Sirius's thoughtful face. Sirius put his quill down and watched him closely.

"How about you'll give those essays right now and then I'll help you to think of something?" he said. He may be a Gryffindor but that didn't mean that he had said goodbye to his eleven years of trained Slyhterin side. At least not yet…

Remus looked at James and Sirius very disapprovingly. He didn't support coping. It was against the rules! James always said that there is something painful stuck in Remus's …er…private area when it came to obeying school rules.

"Deal!" said James and handed the parchments over to Sirius. Sirius took them with glee and started to copy as fast as he could.

"That's not really fair, is it?" asked Remus, knowing that anything he says would make no difference. He was right as always when both Sirius and James decided to simply ignore him. Sighing he turned back to his own essay of the Devilsnare.

_An hour later…_

"Done! Finally!" exclaimed Sirius happily and folded his parchment scrolls nicely together.

"About time," mumbled James. He had sat all this time next to Sirius and urged him to write faster. He grabbed his scrolls and put them away. He turned back to Sirius and asked demandingly, "So?"

"Err, what?" said Sirius. He had already forgotten about their deal.

"What are we going to do?" James asked again.

"Oh," murmured Sirius, "that!" He wrinkled his forehead in thought but he couldn't think of anything.

Suddenly James jumped up from his seat and started to talk in a fast speed.

"The Halloween is coming up!" he shouted.

"Umm, yes, we noticed," said Remus.

"It would be perfect!" continued James. Remus and Sirius exchanged puzzled glances. _What is that boy up do?_ Was clearly written on their faces. James had started to walk around the room and gesticulate animatedly.

He stopped in front of the other boys and said, "Do you know what we should do?"

"Err, no?" supplied Sirius confused.

"We should play a prank!" he finished triumphantly. Silence.

"That's your brilliant idea?" asked Sirius while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes! Isn't it great?" continued James. He was so into his idea that he didn't even notice Remus's condemning frown or Sirius's hidden excitement.

"And what are we going to do pray tell?" asked Remus.

"Umm… I'm not sure. I thought that maybe you'll have some good ideas," said James sheepishly.

"And why do you think that we are going to help you to plan a prank?" asked Remus as he gestured to himself and Sirius.

"Oh no! Don't bring me into this!" interrupted Sirius. He saw James's hopeful face and added, "that doesn't mean that I'll help you, Potter!" He started to back away from the boys.

"Please? Pretty please?" begged James. He couldn't stand the idea that his, oh so brilliant plan was made into nothing.

"Nope," answer Sirius in a teasing voice, which clearly said that if you have something good I might reconsider.

"I'll give you some chocolate frogs," said James, seeing that Sirius was starting to soften. He ran to his trunk and pulled out a couple of aforementioned sweets.

"See?" he moved the frogs in front of Sirius's eyes. "Nice, yummy chocolate frogs…"

Sirius could feel his mouth starting to water. He loved chocolate frogs. He hadn't had them for ages. His mother and father were still refusing to talk and acknowledge him as their son so they hadn't sent him any sweets or money. His only hope was Andromeda but his pride didn't let him to go to her and ask for some.

"Fine," Sirius grudgingly agreed. He quickly unwrapped one frog and took a bite of chocolate. Savouring the taste he added, " but don't think I'll do that again. I can not be bought by sweets!"

"Sure…" smirked James. He turned to Remus and asked, "Remus?"

"No! Absolutely not," disagreed Remus vehemently.

"Please? Remus, please?" begged James, "just this once? Please!"

Remus looked hopelessly into James's puppy dog eyes.

"Oh, all right but only this one time!" warned Remus.

"Of course, Remus!" agreed James happily.

**XXX**

_Much more later…_

"Finally, our masterpiece is completed!" shouted James in the boy's bathroom. James had dragged both Remus and Sirius there because he had insisted that the school was out to get them for even planning such things. Everything had gone quite well except the fact that Peter Pettigrew had accidentally stumbled in but he had been hastily dealt with.

"Shh!" whispered Remus. He peered into the dormitory. It was empty apart from Peter who was quietly snoring in his bed. Thankfully he hadn't woken up. It was quite late too. The clock was about one AM in the morning and they all were dead tired.

"You can't go," argued James, "we haven't chosen our parts yet!"

"Parts?"

"Yes!"

Remus sighed miserably and sat back on the cold bathroom floor waiting for James to explain further about these parts.

"What parts are you talking about?" asked Sirius half-sleeping.

"You know, parts," explained James excitedly.

Sirius opened his eyes a bit more and drawled, "no I don't. Do you think I would have asked if I had known?"

"You know, stuff what each of us is going to do!"

"Oh…"

James looked through their plans that they had, just in case, written down. He fumbled around a bit and then couched his throat clean, " so, who wants to release the monster bats?"

"Wait a moment!" ordered Sirius suddenly alert, "that won't do. There will already _be_ bats. Why should we make even more bats than there is?"

"He's right you know," stated Remus, "why didn't we think about this earlier?"

"Damn… We have to rewrite all our plans," swore James.

**XXX**

_The next day…or should I say the same day…anyway it's Halloween…_

The next morning James woke up at six o' clock in the morning. Even though he had slept only for four hours he didn't feel sleepy at all. He and Sirius had argued for another hour after rewriting the plans about what part they should get until Remus had put his foot down and said that he'll go to sleep if they don't decide it right now. For some reason James could not understand Remus had gotten quite irritable and tired in the past days. James pushed down his blanket and trotted happily in the bathroom. He had a good feeling about the prank. He was sure that it would become a hit. Teachers will speak about it for years! He noticed that Sirius, Remus and the third boy…Paul… no, Percy… no, Peter… yes, were still sleeping.

_Well I have to fix that problem, don't I?_ He thought gleefully. _But right now I really need to go to the bathroom!_

He did his business and peeked into the dormitory. The other boys were still sleeping like babies.

_Good! _Smirked James and rubbed his hands together. He had a great idea how to wake them up…

He tiptoed in the middle of Sirius and Remus's beds. He pulled out his wand and whispered a soft incantation. He had learned this spell a while ago and had been dieing to try this out. The spell was ahead of James's level but he was highly intelligent and could do some more difficult spells without a problem.

Two screams were heard. One scream belonged to Sirius and the other scream belonged to Remus.

"Bloody hell! What is the meaning of this?" screamed Sirius as his pillow hit him on the face. The same thing happened to Remus's bed.

"James Potter!" shouted Remus angrily, "stop this right now!" He tried to grab his pillow and stop it but his blanket had different ideas and rushed to aid the wriggling pillow.

"James!" screamed Remus. His blanket had buried him under it while the pillow smacked him with clear joy.

Sirius was being a little more successful. He had managed to sit on the pillow but the blanket refused to leave him alone.

"James Potter!" both Remus and Sirius screamed at the same time.

James, however, was clutching his stomach for laughing so hard. He thought that he had never seen something so funny. Their faces were absolutely hilarious. Finally he was calm enough to reverse the spell. He reversed it but did not apologise. His friend weren't very amused though and made him swore to never too that again. They got silently dressed and went down to the Great Hall to grab a bite for their hungry stomachs. When they were sitting comfortably around the table James went ahead and started to make a conversation.

"So," started James excitedly, "are you ready for our prank tonight?"

Remus and Sirius nodded grumpily. They were still upset about the wake up call. Both of them liked to sleep as much as possible. How James could be so energetic at six thirty on the morning was beyond them.

"Oh, come on!" said James, "you're still grumpy about the joke, aren't you?"

Remus glared at him evilly.

"Why would we be grumpy?" asked Sirius definitely grumpily.

"One prank won't kill us," finished Remus equally as grumpy.

Okay!" said James doubtfully.

**XXX**

_Later that day…_

As the classes passed that day all three boys found themselves not being able to concentrate. James, Sirius and Remus were all to excited about the Halloween feast and their prank to care about stupid things like revising Wingardium Leviosa. Well, Remus did care about the revising but James and Sirius were too excited for that. Even the teachers noticed that something was up with them.

"Mr Potter, will you sit down?"

James had jumped up and down the whole Transfiguration lesson.

Mr Black, is there a problem?"

Instead of concentrating on his potion Sirius had looked dreamily around the classroom.

Mr Potter, be quiet!"

"For your instant chattering you have just lost five points, Mr Black!"

"Mr Lupin will you please be quiet!"

Professor Sprout had had enough.

These sorts of complaints were heard from all the teachers they had classes that day. The boys could not shut their mouths. They had so much to discuss; details they missed, random ideas for improving their prank and so on…

Finally, after the long day the classes ended and it was time for supper. The boys nodded at each other and went inside the Great Hall and sat down as usual. Sirius and James were sitting giddily on their seats while Remus was not looking so happy. Remus took his fork and knife and started to play with them. He sighed and took some steak on his plate. He had no desire to eat but they all had agreed that at least one of them had to eat a little. Sirius had convinced the house elves to add a little extra on the food this evening, so you can understand Remus's apprehension.

"_Oh come on, Remus. It not that bad," said James trying to convince Remus into eating the food._

"_Yeah, its just one bite. You wont have eat all the food," agreed Sirius, Silently he was glad that he didn't have to be the on who had to eat the food._

"_But-" Remus tried to argue but was cut off rather rudely_

"_You are not a chicken, are you?" asked James._

"_No, but-"_

"_It's settled then," finished Sirius with a wicked grin._

_Remus sighed and submitted to his fate._

Remus sighed again and took a hesitating bite of his steak. Now, he could only sit back and enjoy the show as much he could.

Sirius and James grinned at Remus. They knew how much it meant for him to help them to break all those school rules. James nodded at him encouragingly and started to count numbers under his breath.

"Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one and action!" chanted James and Sirius together.

Suddenly a loud bang was heard in the Great Hall. The whole Hall became smoky. The pupils started to scream. Shouts and shrieks were heard everywhere. Every once in a while there was heard a loud crash, clatter or a swishing sound.

"Silence!" bellowed a familiar voice somewhere in the smoke.

The Great Hall went a bit quieter but the noise was still ear deafening.

"Silence!"

This time the students obeyed his command. Professor Dumbledore waved his wand and the smoke cleared up. The whole Great Hall was buzzing with fireworks, while the pupils had matching outfits to their own house animal. Meaning that the Slytherins were snakes, the Ravenclaws were ravens, the Huffelpuffs were badgers and the Gryffindors were lions. With the exception of James and Sirius of course.

The Hall sprung into life again. Once more there were heard screams, yells, shouts and swear word that definitely were not meant for younger students and teachers to hear. A lot of students looked at each at with embarrassment or angrily. Some could, however, find amusement in their current positions and made joking remarks about their outfits.

"Silence!" bellowed professor Dumbledore once more, "calm down!" His eyes twinkled as he threw a swift glance to the three small Gryffindors who were all trying to appear as innocent as possible.

"It seems that we have a couple of marauders in our mist!"

Professor Dumbledore waved his wand again and once more the peace was returned to the Great Hall. He did leave a few fireworks flying around in the Hall though…

**AN2: **I hope you liked it! Don't forget that my native tongue is not English and I'm very sorry for all grammar mistakes and typos. Feel free to point out any typos you find. It will help me to improve my writing. As you can see I'm a bit behind in the actual holyday calendar. LOL! Don't forget to review! Merry Christmas!


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